Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, June 29, 2008

ATI Radeon Graphics Cards Running Nvidia PhysX Are Faster, Stronger, Awesomer [Ati]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/321673620/ati-radeon-graphics-cards-running-nvidia-physx-are-faster-stronger-awesomer

After Nvidia picked up PhysX, it was obvious ATI would probably get left out of Nvidia's efforts to spread the love to graphics cards and x86 CPUs (hence ATI hooking up with Havok). (Physics engines, for the uninitiated, are what make your body bounce around with aplomb after getting stuck with a grenade in Halo 3.) But some modders have fixed that and ported PhysX to ATI's Radeon 3800 cards, instantly improving benchmarks.

A Radeon HD 3870 system jumped from an overall 3D Mark Vantage score of P3800 to P4262. Though it won't be available for ATI's latest 4800 cards for a bit, you can download the PhysX enabler this weekend at NGOHQ, which should make your Unreal experience on ATI that much sweeter. [NGOHQ via TG Daily via /.]

Mirage 3D DaVinci Driving Simulator Rig Lacks Wheels, Has Passenger Seat [Driving Simulator]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/322039170/mirage-3d-davinci-driving-simulator-rig-lacks-wheels-has-passenger-seat

We could only surmise that this "realistic" DaVinci driving simulator from Mirage3D is for teaching this morning. I mean, why else would this thing have a passenger seat? Riding shotgun for a video game? Not when the couch is so comfy, thanks. Then again, this is also the perfect gift for that cousin with a penchant for racing and DUIs, as it lovingly recreates the extreme driving experience with roll bars, uber-realistic, working gauges (controlled by an on-board PC), and Dolby 5.1 surround—all without the danger of having him sloshed on I-90. Oh, and there's a seat belt. That's the DaVinci, alright: safety first, dignity second.

[Mirage 3D via Born Rich]

Voodoo Envy 133 photographed gloriously in the wild

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/321563759/

Filed under: Laptops

No frontin' here: this is the most excited we've been about in the wild shots in quite some time. Not only do we have a veritable plethora of Envy 133 shots to glance at, but each one is high resolution and sharp as a tack. If you think your heart can handle checking out this slab of sexy from all angles, head on down to the links below and give it a go. From here, the only thing we're down on is that mirror they call a glossy display; otherwise, this thing looks downright heavenly.

Read - TheNextBench message board
Read - Envy 133 gallery

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Progressive MyRate drive-monitoring device goes national

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/322002945/

Filed under: Transportation

Progressive insurance has been testing out the MyRate driving monitoring system for a few years now (it used to be called TripSense), but it's finally taking the system national, bringing pay-as-you-drive insurance into the mainstream. The little blue box plugs into your car's ODB II diagnostic port (all cars made after 1996 have one), and studiously records your driving habits, wirelessly sending the data back to Progressive HQ (it's not clear exactly how). Every six months, Progressive will crunch the numbers and issue a new rate for you based on how you drive -- savings of up to 40 percent are possible. That's pretty tempting, depending on your current rates and driving habits, but we're not so sure we're willing to share that much data for an unspecified discount -- especially since we're confident the MyRate box will get cracked almost immediately.

[Thanks, Mike; image courtesy of Aaron Landry]

Read - MyRate press release
Read - MyRate video
Read - How MyRate works

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Friday, June 27, 2008

Ethnic Kettle

Source: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/06/ethnic-kettle.html

Have you ever tasted the Kettle chips?
The renowned US brand has recently launched a new ethnic line with an impressive packaging: white flow pack dressed with a colorful band printed on kraft paper.
The final result is eye capturing and the band can be used again for several uses...for example as a crown, making yourself feel like an Indian king.

Digit Kettle in Flickr an you'll find many examples!